A sense of relief has positively influenced global investment markets. Hitherto rampant inflation is abating, interest rates have mostly stopped rising (and might even fall), and that widely predicted looming recession has remained a mirage.

The global financial market valuation landscape has been contending with the negative effects of rising interest rates, caused in turn by stubborn consumer and producer inflation and increasingly expensive debt refinancing.

Predictably, the aggressive interest rate policies adopted by central banks has had some effect.  The policymakers’ intention was to temper inflationary forces by subduing the purchasing capacity of the consumer.  However (at least to date), consumption patterns have been less affected than anticipated, and it is the financial system itself that is bearing the brunt of central bank tightening.